FCRI in the Vanguard of flow metering

Did you know that Southeast Asia’s premier lab for testing and calibration of valves and flow meters in water, oil and air media is in a quiet township in Kanjikode, near Palakkad, Kerala? Yes, it is the Fluid Control Research Institute (FCRI for short) which is celebrating its Silver Jubilee this year.
FCRI was established in 1987 with active assistance and participation from UNDP and UNIDO and dedicated to the nation by the then President of India, Shri. R. Venkitaraman on 18th April 1989. It is functioning under the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Govt. of India. However, it is an autonomous lab thriving on its own resources and the income it generates. The Institute has clocked an annual turnover of Rs.17 crores in the last fiscal.
FCRI has full-fledged NABL accredited laboratories which are on par with similar labs in Europe and has been proven through an inter-lab comparison with National Engineering Laboratory, UK; Delft Hydraulic Lab, Netherland; and Denmark Tech Institute, Denmark. It is enchanting experience for any engineer to have a glimpse of the various facilities the Institute has added over the years for testing & calibration in the domain of flow metering.

Labs & Facilities

Air Flow Lab: Its Air Flow facilities cover areas related to industrial gases. It is operating at near atmospheric pressure with flow rates up to 10,000 m3/hr. Here various types of flow meters of sizes up to 400 mm are evaluated for measurement accuracies. In the primary air flow lab, calibration of flow meters at low pressure is carried out for flow ranges up to 40 m3/hr. The lab maintains the metrological qualities of the master flow meters and thereby provides high reliability of calibration and operating performance. In the secondary air flow lab, reference flow meters up to 10,000 m3/hr are handled. The lab has high pressure flow facilities with a 20 bar blow down air test set-up. Its primary standard gravimetric system enables calibration of 50 mm turbine meters for air flow rates upto 50 m3/hr, at pressure up to 20 bar (g).

Water Flow Lab: The water flow lab has specialized test rigs for the precise calibration of flow meters, testing of valves, pipe fittings and other flow products. The whole system is designed to handle a maximum flow rate of 5000 m3/hr and pipeline size up to 5000 m3/hr. and pipeline size up to 900 mm starting from 6 mm.
The static gravimetric method as per ISO 4185 is adopted here for the measurement of flow rate. There are two weighing tanks with capacities of 2T and 20T. Diverter systems are used for diverting water in the weighing tank, for an accurately measured period of time. The mass measurement is by load cells. The online density acquired by a precision online densitometer and the mass readings after correction for air buoyancy enables the mass to be converted into volume. These volumes and respective diversion time can provide an accurate measurement of flow rate.

Insulator under test on a shaker table

Oil flow laboratory

Water industrial segments and utilities like Metro city water supply schemes, state level Water Board Authorities embarking on modernization have initiated renovation measures for existing water distribution systems. FCRI is identified as testing agency for performance evaluation of water meters for various Water Board Authorities, Municipalities and Corporation Offices. A test rig is erected exclusively for ascertaining the quality of water meters by subjecting them to pressure tests, accuracy tests and endurance tests (continuous flow for 100 hrs and one lac interruptions). FCRI has commissioned a large water flow laboratory where it can achieve a flow rate up to 15,000 m3/hr. Flow elements of up to 2,000 mm dia. can be assembled in the line. This facility uses secondary calibration methods and is unparalleled in this part of the world.

Oil Flow Lab: The Oil Flow Lab has the capability to calibrate any type of flow meter and is tailor-made to do the calibration of flow meters used for the bulk flow measurement viz. Positive displacement flow meters, Turbine flow meters, Mass flow meters, etc. which are used to determine the total quantity of fluid. The facility makes use of static gravimetric calibration system for measurement, and calibration is done by ‘standing start and stop method’. All measurements are traceable to National Standards.

Water flow laboratory diverter system

Secondary air flow laboratory

Physical Standards Lab: FCRI has been accredited by NABL as per ISO/IEC 17025 under the category of ‘Mechanical Measurement’ as well. FCRI’s Physical Standards Lab provides calibration services to industries and laboratories in the field of dimensional metrology, pressure, mass, volume, density and viscosity measurements. The lab is equipped with the most reliable and sophisticated reference instruments, operated under controlled environmental conditions.

Noise & Vibration Lab: The Noise & Vibration Lab is well equipped for in-plant / site studies with the state-of-the-art equipment/instruments. These test equipment ranging from basic transducers to sophisticated analyzers are imported from USA, UK, Denmark and Netherlands. FCRI engineers have been trained at some of the prestigious institutions / labs abroad and have been carrying out testing / research and field assignments for various industries and establishments.

Electronics & Instrumentation Lab: The Electrics & Instrumentation Lab has refined instruments which maintain a high degree of accuracy, Tailored instrumentation set-ups are made to special experiments at Water & Air Flow Labs. DataAcquisition Systems coupled with dedicated software ensure repeatability and utmost reliability. It caters to the calibration of parameters like voltage AC/DC, current AC/DC, frequency, time, power, resistance, temperature, etc.

Prover in primary air flow laboratory

High pressure air test facility

Material Testing Lab: This lab has facilities for impact testing, actuator testing, and testing of safety and domestic appliances.

Environmental Testing Lab: The Environmental Test Facility at FCRI caters to environmental testing needs for almost all types of manufacturing and R & D industries. ETF facilitates testing of a very wide range of products including temperature, humidity & HVAC equipment, electrical & electronic measuring & indicating instruments, switchgear/control-gear enclosures, telemetry/wireless communication equipment, audio-visual equipment, products developed for space/aerospace, military and outdoor applications.

250 bar compressed natural gas facility

50 bar natural gas test facility under construction

Training Programs

FCRI has successfully conducted more than 100 national training programs and 34 international training programs since 2006. It also conducts tailor-made programs for executives/technicians in specialized areas for interested organizations. Such programs have been conducted for GAIL, ONGC, IPCL, TNPCB, Enron, etc. In addition to the above, it also introduced a Post Graduate Certificate Program on Petroleum & Natural Gas Flow Measurement & Control for field engineers and engineering graduates. These courses are a boon to the industry since ‘Flow Metering’ is not there in the curriculum of engineering colleges in our country.

Earlier it used to conduct just one or two courses for international participants. Now it has four courses. In 2013-14, 84 students from 22 countries availed of the benefit of these courses. The Institute has hostel facilities in the campus for overseas students. For industrial units within the country, FCRI conducts eight regular courses every year. During the last fiscal, 910 students from India underwent these courses. It conducts tailor-made courses for batches of 25-30 engineers from organizations like GAIL. It has been holding programs on Legal Metrology for all states for the past 10 years.

Centre for water management

Water flow laboratory-100 mm

International Conferences

The Institute also conducts international conferences on flow technology. These are held once in three years on different themes. So far it has held four conferences. Around 600 engineers from across the globe participate in these conferences held in the Institute Premises. Plans are afoot for its next conference in 2015. The Institute attaches special significance to the ensuing event since this is the Silver Jubilee Year

A file picture from FLOTEK-G 2012, the International Conference which was inaugurated by Dr. S. Sundareshan, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries, Govt. of India

“As a part of the celebrations, we are planning Customer Service Programs, Quality System Improvement Programs and a Seminar on ‘Industrial Safety, CSR programs, etc.,” says Dr. Jacob Chandapillai, Director, FCRI.
Dr. Jacob states that in flow measurement the technology used is contemporary. The accuracy level has now come to better than 0.05% in volume flow rate. FCRI is soon adding a Gas Flow Lab to its sprawling facilities. “Gas is the future fuel. Hence we are experimenting with Natural Gas for calibration of flow meters at different pressures,” reveals Dr. Jacob.

Gas Flow is one of the future thrusts for FCRI. Besides, the Institute is eyeing site assignments for water flow, especially in hydro-electric power stations involving large dia flow meters. It will also be testing field efficiency of turbines. The Institute has a strategic tie-up with IIT Roorkee (Alternate Hydro Energy) for this project.

On the eve of its Silver Jubilee, FCRI deserves a round of applause for making India visible in the world map of science & technology.FCRI is indeed in the vanguard of research & development in its chosen field. Its contribution towards quality enhancement, accuracy, precision and reliability in flow metering is laudable!

– P.K. Balasubbramaniian